Friday, February 24, 2012

You would be forgiving for saying you've had your fill of surpass protection games. The past little years have seen a flood of these approach clones filling downloadable portals like PlayStation system. But you know who might be able to bring you back: the good people that brought you Peggle. PopCap, one of the best developers and publishers around, has brought its excellent tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies to PSN. While it uses the basic mechanics of all efforts in this genre, it stands out for its charm, personality, and loads of gameplay variety. The result is another addictive experience from PopCap that will appeal to all walks of gamers.

Zombies are creeping on your lawn, and your garden is the last line of defense against these brain-crazy cannibals. You have some pretty peculiar (but useful) plants at your disposal, including pea shooters that spit green balls at the undead, hot tamales that burn everything in their path, and Venus zombie traps that will devour an enemy in one gulp. By planting various seeds in strategic locations around your lawn you may be able to hold off the onslaught and keep them from entering your house and eating your brain.

It's a very simple design and, while it does eventually become challenging, this is one of the easier tower defense games I've played. The real draw here is the incredible variety of plants (towers) and zombies. There are 48 kinds of plants with numerous offensive, defensive, and production capabilities, and 26 different zombies. Completing each level in the game will unlock a new plant or item to add to your arsenal. The array of choices means you can customize your strategy and confront the undead on your own terms. These constant rewards really keep you involved and will have you defending your lawn for much longer than you may have expected.

There is also a wide assortment of gameplay styles. Some levels take place during the day and some at night, which has a large effect on what plants are available to you, how you harvest sunlight (your resources), and what environmental obstacles you encounter. Interspersed among the regular levels are more arcade-like variations on the tower defense formula. You may lose the ability to select plants and instead have to make do with pre-selected weapons that come down a conveyor belt. Or you may be asked to play Whack-a-Zombie out of the blue. A Survival Mode can be unlocked and there are special puzzle levels that let you play as the zombies. You can't go more than a few minutes with this game without discovering something new and delightful.

Adding to the game's charm is the cast of undead, ranging from football players to zombies that carry screen door shields to aquatic zombies that ride dolphins (you have a pool in the backyard). These aren't your gruesome Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil zombies. This is a zombie game for the whole family -- never thought I'd say that. It also has a catchy soundtrack that becomes more intense as your yard is flooded with enemies. The light voice acting gives the undead character as they lurch toward your house grunting and moaning for brains.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Welcome Back to New Vegas! With the opening of the crucial Edition, Bethesda Softworks offers you the possibility to double-down and get the complete package of New Vegas fun. For the first time in one package, you can get all the Fallout: New Vegas content including the full suite of highly acclaimed add-on content: Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues and Lonesome Road.

To sweeten the pot, you'll be armed with the latest cache of unique weapons, ammo types and recipes from the most recent add-on packs: Courier's Stash and Gun Runners Arsenal.Whether you're a seasoned explorer of the Mojave or playing the game for the first time, you'll find there are more friends and enemies to make, more consequences to your actions and more opportunities to live in glory or infamy throughout the Wasteland. The choices you make will be as crucial to your survival as ever.Enjoy your stay.

Features
• Beyond the Wasteland: The world of New Vegas is more expansive than ever. Each new distinct area presents a fresh set of branching-quests, remarkable personalities and more chances to play the Savior or the Pariah to the natives of New Vegas.
• Dead Money: Lured into a trap masquerading as the Sierra Madre Casino, you are thrown into a high stakes game where you'll have to work with three other lost souls if you want to survive.
• Honest Hearts: An expedition into Utah's Zion National Park goes horribly wrong and you become embroiled in a war between tribes and put into a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burning Man.
• Old World Blues: Transported to the Big MT research crater, you are enlisted by the Think Tank to save them from their own science experiments that have gone horribly out of control.
• Lonesome Road: Ulysses, the original Courier Six, contacts you and promises to answer why he refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of Fallout: New Vegas, but only if you make one last journey into the treacherous canyons of the Divide.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Cocoon -- a utopia in the sky. Its inhabitants assumed their planet a paradise. Under the Sanctum's rule, Cocoon had long recognized peace and prosperity.

Mankind was blessed by its protectors, the benevolent fal'Cie, and believed that tranquil days would continue forever. Their tranquility was shattered with the discovery of one hostile fal'Cie. The moment that fal'Cie from Pulse - the feared and dete...sted lowerworld - awoke from its slumber, peace on Cocoon came to an end. Fal'Cie curse humans, turning them into magic-wielding servants.

They become l'Cie - chosen of the fal'Cie. Those branded with the mark of a l'Cie carry the burden of either fulfilling their Focus or facing a fate harsher than death itself. There is a Prayer for redemption. It is a wish to protect the world. Also promise to challenge destiny. After thirteen days of fates intertwined, the battle begins.

Set several years after Lightning and the others saved Cocoon, some survivors have decided to start over by rebuilding on Gran Pulse. Lightning, however, is nowhere to be found and thought dead by many, but Serah believes otherwise. When her town is suddenly overrun by monsters, a mysterious man named Noel appears to save he